Enjoining Good and Forbidding Evil — The Community's Duty
fiqh
Level: intermediate
muamalat
fqh-022
وَلۡتَكُن مِّنكُمۡ أُمَّةٌ يَدۡعُونَ إِلَى ٱلۡخَيۡرِ وَيَأۡمُرُونَ بِٱلۡمَعۡرُوفِ وَيَنۡهَوۡنَ عَنِ ٱلۡمُنكَرِ
— آل عمران 104
Verse: "Let there be among you a community calling to good, enjoining right and forbidding wrong." (3:104)
"Let there be" (waltakun): Indicates collective obligation — a qualified group performing it suffices, but the whole community bears sin if entirely absent.
Levels of enjoining: "Whoever sees a wrong, let him change it with his hand; if unable, with his tongue; if unable, with his heart — and that is the weakest of faith." (Muslim 49)
Source: Sahih Muslim (49); Al-Qurtubi (4/165); Ibn Al-Arabi (1/296)
Question: What are the three levels of forbidding evil according to the Prophetic hadith?
Answer: (1) Changing physically with the hand (2) Denouncing verbally with the tongue (3) Hating it in the heart — each level weaker than the prior.